Taufik Batisah & Hossan Leong warn public of scammers who impersonate them on social media

Did you receive a message from Singaporean singer Taufik Batisah or comedian Hossan Leong on social media recently?

It might not be them. Scammers have been impersonating them or their staff to hoodwink the public.

Taufik and Leong posted statements on social media warning fans of such scams on Feb. 20 and 22 respectively.

Leong said, "I really have no money."

Singaporean singer Taufik Batisah

Singaporean singer Taufik Batisah, famously known for winning the first season of the reality TV series Singapore Idol, said he found deepfakes of himself online in a video posted on Facebook and Instagram on Feb. 20.

Taufik said that scammers have been pretending to be someone on his media team and would promise fans an opportunity to connect with the singer.

Such comments were found on both TikTok and Instagram.

That's not all.

A user by the name of Muhammad Hafiz has been replying to comments on Taufik's posts.

"I checked out the account, it's a fake account," Taufik said. "It's going to lead to some scam."

Telling his fans to "be careful", Taufik said that he nor his team would not reach out to them privately.

"If there's an official event I will reach out to you guys via my official accounts," he said, stressing once again to not be fooled by these scammers.

He added that even some of his close friends were almost fooled by the scammers.

Taufik told fans not to click on any links sent to them, share personal information, and transfer money.

He also requested fans to report similar scam messages.

He advised the public to send a WhatsApp message or email to his team to verify whenever they are unsure of the authenticity of a message.

"I have no money": Hossan Leong

Similarly, Leong said in a Facebook post on Feb. 22 that scammers have been using AI deepfakes to create a fake narrative about Leong investing money in a financial product, and advising the public to do the same.

He clarified that the deepfake personality wasn't him, explaining that he had "no money" to do something like this.

He also added that he didn't look as good as the AI fake, and told his followers to "always cross-check" and ask him as a form of verification against such deepfakes.

Top image via Hossan Leong and Taufik Batisah/Facebook